Government flags off the distribution of hand washing equipment to various schools in Zambia

Minister of General Education Dennis Wanchinga flag off the distribution of water,sanitation and hygiene wash materials in Lusaka

The Ministry of General Education has flagged off the distribution of hand washing equipment worth US$75, 000.00 to various schools around the country.

This is in order to promote hygiene in the fight against cholera.

The UNICEF and UKAID sponsored consignment of 3,500 anti-cholera kits which comprise a bucket, stand , basin and soap will be distributed to selected schools in Northwestern, Luapula and Copperbelt provinces, respectively.

Minister of General Education Dennis Wanchinga said yesterday at occasion held at his ministerial office that government remains committed to combating cholera by providing facilities that will promote high standards of hygiene among school going children and communities.

Dr Wanchinga said government has recognized the need for serious investment in water reticulation because much of school programmes such as the feeding programme and girl child menstrual hygiene all depend on the ready supply of clean and safe water.

He challenged Zambians to change their behavior concerning waste management and disposal in order to avert unwanted outbreaks of pandemics such as cholera .

In recent months , Lusaka has been ravaged by escalating cases of cholera with over 2, 800 cases reported and over 50 deaths recorded.

And Dr Wanchinga , who is also acting Minister of Higher Education, has quashed any hopes of private and public schools in non-cholera infested areas opening early amidst the prevailing cholera pandemic.

This is because government cannot take any chance because both public and private schools remain susceptible to contracting cholera through cross contamination as a result of mobility of people.

Dr Wanchinga said all schools will remain closed until further notice from the Ministry of Health.

And Ministry of General Education Permanent Secretary Henry Tukombe said government is working tirelessly to ensure that cholera is contained and a safe environment is provided.

Mr. Tukombe said all learning institutions in Lusaka have all complied with the provisions of SI 79.

Minister of General Education Dennis Wanchinga hand washing after he flagged off the distribution of water,sanitation and hygiene wash materials in Lusaka

My word!!!! These santitory items are actually being donated by Unicef and UKAid???
Do we not have shame in ourselves that we opt to buy luxury SUVs when hospitals are lacking basic medicines, drainages are clogged with flith, we have roads that contain fish ponds, we have townships with no sanitary management framework- God will continue to curse us until we change our mind sets and start to act responsible-the western mode of civilization is not compatible with the African mindset it has been argued but if East Asians have made a success of it why can we????
What is wrong with us Africans in general and us Zambians to be specific???

53 years old man living with parents and needs assistance to clean his behind after using the loo!

@2020 Vision,
I hear you. I have also been trying to figure out just what the hell is wrong with us subsaharan africans especially Zambians. We honestly don’t deserve the poor living standards currently obtaining. Maybe we’ve never had visionary leaders since independence.

If Zambia was a true rule of law country then no street vendors would’ve been allowed all over just to make a few greedy goons get elected.We’ve wrongly put political expediency above our laws and turned Lusaka into a real nasty pighouse.

Nice to hear. But let’s avoid Contamination of Underground Water at all costs. Start building concrete Cemented Deposits of our Fecal Matter as an Urgent but Temporal Measure, instead of Pit Latrines. Local Government, NGOs & others should start by building large Communal user friendly toilets in places like Kanyama, etch. The actual Toilet must not be on top but besides, in order to avoid accidents. Issues like security of the Toilets is also pertinent. People can then copy this model. Those who can afford & want privacy can then build their own. Long term solutions can follow.

I wish to hear a blogger here, to come up with a better Toilet Invention. Those who can afford should try the Electric type which Incinerates. But the urine? A proper reticulated Sewer System is of course the long term & Permanent Solution. I agree with the School of thought that Lusaka should be decongested. I think we have experts in this area.

Tax on bottled Mineral should be Slashed. We should also find cheap forms of energy so that everybody is taught to boil drinking water. I always boil my drinking water even if it has been Chlorinated. I think that boiling is safer, cheaper and may not have the collateral effects of overdosing. The price of Charcoal for certain users must be Slashed. But let’s incapacitate Zaffico & others to Plant more Trees. Efforts by Trade Kings to manufacture Chlorine must be hailed. Meanwhile, pit latrines which I suspect are still on use in some places must be Treated with Chemicals.

You dont sound like you have been in Zambia in a looooooooong time. Everyone knows that boiling water makes it safe to drink. In Zambia, the only cheap source of energy is the charcoal you beg from your neighbor. Everything else comes at a high cost. Charcoal, gas and hydro are all expensive to the kanyama residents. Chlorination is far much safer than boiling as the efficacy is more long lasting than boiling. When you boil and any slight of exposure, contamination is immediate. Slashing the price of charcoal will only encourage deforestation which is rife at the moment when you actor in the mukula scandal. You dont have to suspect that pit latrines are in use. According to UNICEF, 50% of Zambians lack proper sanitation facilities. These are people who cant even access a proper pit…

@ Peter Njobvu (muli uli ba sungwana or muli bwanji) While I respect your opinion, I find it offensive for you to imply that I don’t know Z. After 50 years on the ground, I may be older than you. I may be years in Europe, China or USA but I have lived the reality in Z. Argue objectively on facts & not emotions. I am degree educated & if you’ve noticed my posts, I don’t Politic or insult. I am a refined Intellectual. Cheers!

@ W.H.O when you insult a Chief as old & useless, who will help you to uncoil the Snake around your neck? Efyo abaiche ba lelo balepenana. Uka isanga pachishala. The level of some contributions show that they are merely rouble rousers or noise makers without any reasonable level of Analysis. I’m moving on to London Times. You are the type who experiments on the Spirits that produce fire and then go knocking on a Substation, ati isuleni ba ngwele! Who has locked my house.

@telescopic eye, asungwana in tumbuka means girls. Coming to the gist of the matter it is high time in Zambia we started observing standards – anything below set standards must be abolished without negotiation.

This is a joke. A whole minister is proud to flag off the distribution of so-called ‘hand washing equipment’. What equipment? A bucket, stand and hand wash soap is what we call equipment? First of all, the problem is not the absence of such utensils (don’t exaggerate by referring to it as equipment) in the schools. The problem is the absence of running water. Where is the water that they will be using the clean there hands going to come from? From contaminated wells because the school will have wells and pit latrines in close proximity. Sort out the water reticulation first instead of this grand-standing!! Within a couple of days, the ‘equipment’ that is being supplied will find itself in the homes of teachers and headmaster. Probably rightfully so as this type of ‘equipment’ will…

Blabla…… this shows the kind of people we have in Govt and that is why Zambia is being overtaken by countries born yesterday like Bostwana and countries ravaged by tribal wars like Rwanda. When our leaders visit these countries don’t they envy how their fellow leaders are developing their countries, when they travel to developed countries don’t they see how systems work in those countries so that they also bring new ideas to Zambia ….. they are always air bound and for what? It is a shame indeed.

@ Peter Njobvu. African problems are the same. That is why there is no single Developed Country in Africa. Problems of Corruption, Poor Governance are the order of the day. Whilst it’s clear that you are a Cadre, remove the Pit Latrine in your head & offer a better solution to mine. Don’t limit your thinking to Alternative Energies. What about Solar, etch.? I grew up using Charcoal & Electricity. We never begged. In fact we helped some neighbours. This Culture of insulting people you don’t even know just shows how shallow minded you are. You imply that the sick have been using Chlorine. How then, did they get infected? Some studies have shown that overdose of Chlorine may have health consequences in Future. I’ve told you that I’m Degree Educated. What’s your level of Education &…

@ Peter Njobvu. I’ve told you that I’m Degree Educated. What’s your level of Education & how old are you? Don’t you think that you owe me an apology for your reckless & unwarranted attack on me? Or was it premeditated. Currently, I am in the Class of the Best Bloggers here. I don’t yet have a PHD. Gas is a Cheaper form of Energy though it has safety issues. If Chlorine runs out, you mean you can’t boil water as an Alternative? Will you chlorinate your Munkoyo or katata or 7 days? We’ve used Charcoal for 50 years & the trees have never run out. It’s all about reforestation & Management. Besides, it’s the only form of Employment for some.

As bloggers, we are here to help in finding the best solutions to consuming cantaminated food & water. The other issue is Waste Management. Let us not elbow each other unnecessarily. We all sacrifice on Talk Time & time from other routines. Let us offer Solutions & not attack those who do so.

These dinosaurs are backwards, they should’ve done that before cholera struck. what good is building new things if your people are too sick to use them, government need to push health and safety from a young age because some people are really ignorant when it comes to hygiene.

The govt has extremely wrong priorities in place no wonder we as a country cannot afford to offer basic health care to the nation. Did we really have to wait for Cholera to strike so hard to realise we need such in schools and other places. This however will not solve the problem of hygiene because once Cholera is stamped out we will go back to our usual ways. Please govt provide safe and insure there is running water for the citizens. Find a lasting solution to pit latrines so that when rain season come we do not have these latrines fill up and expose their contents.

Someone above has suggested a safer Modell of a Toilet which can be serviced with Chemicals or even ifisikisa from ashes. It can be suctioned when full. It has no underground leakage causing contamination. It takes years to fill up. Tachi Dilika. It’s covered by Strong Concrete. Who amongst us bloggers has a Better idea? That’s the point most people are missing. Finding the Solution to the problem & not a problem within the Problem. It has a ventilation pipe, a covered opening for suction & it is completely Cemented.

Google the health risks of using Chlorine over a long period of time. Including risks of Cancer. Boiling sounds safer. We condemn chemically raised chickens, don’t we? Note: I’m not implying that we shouldn’t use it. We shouldn’t be ignorant either.

$75000 for 3500 buckets and soap… OK $21 per 1 bucket and a hopefully a lot of soap. What do people normally use to wash their hands I wonder, was there no hand washing in schools before today..?

But what about antibiotics in hospitals? Why do we hear nothing about that side of the problem? Why are people dying in the centre of the capital city from a disease that can easily be treated with antibiotics? It’s not Ebola virus

Iwe Wanchinga that’s Backward desert thinking. You are fomenting more bacterial contaminations with your idea. what budget do schools for antiseptic liquids or soaps? is it sustainable? Install boreholes and water reticulation systems. Bacterial growth lags and are minimized in running waters.
We are not a water-stress country, think sustainable old man!

Government should take the bull by the horn. Just enforce the existing laws. Just build more prisons for those breaking these laws. The fear of losing an election has been the source of all the confusion we have in the country. Uwa kwenshya ubushiku bamutasha ilyo bwacha…..today people miss some of the things from the Kaunda era.

This is beyond a joke – the best “hand washing equipment” would have been to spend the $75000 on sinking boreholes at as many needy schools as possible in the country or simply ensuring that ALL schools in Cholera affected areas have clean water and toilets. Where was the “equipment” procured from? I would not be surprised if a humble PF minister or two, “empowered” PF youth from Kamwala or the usual suspect -KZ- at State House had a hand in this “blessing” to the masses. Surely, how many such buckets will each school get?

Where they procure it doe not matter, what matters is the fact that they have procured the equipment. So wha t if it is from kalingalinga? Where did you want them procured? If they procure them from abroad you would have said why from there when we have them in kalingalinga, BUSHE MWALIKWANINA MWEBANTU IMWE, I DOUBT IT……

@NDELOLESHA FYE
iwe, read my comment again cilande lande. I am answering @Kalipompo, who wants to know where equipment is procured from. mwasenda ichushi mwasha umulilo is typical of Zambian. Take heart, lets not be so flabby!